You are here: Home Emotional Well ... Pets 101 Summary
Information For Living With: Choose condition »
Information about all aspects of finances affected by a serious health condition. Includes income sources such as work, investments, and private and government disability programs, and expenses such as medical bills, and how to deal with financial problems.
Information about all aspects of health care from choosing a doctor and treatment, staying safe in a hospital, to end of life care. Includes how to obtain, choose and maximize health insurance policies.
Answers to your practical questions such as how to travel safely despite your health condition, how to avoid getting infected by a pet, and what to say or not say to an insurance company.

Pets 101

Summary

Next »

1/16

There are numerous physical and emotional reasons to live with a pet post diagnosis. For instance, pets motivate people to exercise, help fight depression, loneliness and stress, reduce blood pressure, and even help prevent heart disease. Pets can reduce pain. Some studies indicate pets increase longevity.

If you don't have a pet, consider getting one.

  • If you are thinking of getting a dog, consider getting an older one so you do not have to deal with training.
  • Many doctors prescribe having a pet as part of medical care. (For a story reported in the New York Times about the affect of getting a new dog on a newly diagnosed cancer patient, click here offsite link.)
  • If you want to test living with a pet, or only want a pet for a short term, there are a variety of alternatives to consider. 

While dogs and cats may be the first pets to come to mind, there are all kinds of pets with different characteristics to suit your physical, emotional and financial needs as well as your lifestyle.

Before living with a pet, think carefully about the responsibility and how it will be carried out on a daily basis. There are apps for a smart phone that make life with a pet morehassle free.

It is easier than ever to travel with a pet.

If your landlord prohibits pets, you may be able to get around the rules because of your health condition.

Consider how the responsibility of taking care of a pet will be carried on if you can't take care of it yourself. For instance:

  • There are veterinarians who will make house calls.
  • Make plans for the pet's care in case you become incapacitated or die or are in an emergency situation such as a flood or earthquake. We never know when we will get hit by the proverbial bus.

Once you own a pet, one of the main considerations is to protect your health. This is easy to do if you follow standard guidelines.

It is advisable to take a few minutes to think through how to save money as you live with a pet -- including whether to get pet insurance to protect against potentially catastrophic costs. Also be sure to protect your finances with appropriate liability insurance. 

Just as it is advisable to preplan (not prepay) our own funeral, it is best to preplan for your pet so you do not have to make a hasty decision while experiencing grief. In the event, Emotional support is available.See: Loss of A Pet

For additional information to consider, see:


Please share how this information is useful to you. 0 Comments

 

Post a Comment Have something to add to this topic? Contact Us.

Characters remaining:

  • Allowed markup: <a> <i> <b> <em> <u> <s> <strong> <code> <pre> <p>
    All other tags will be stripped.